As a custom home builder, are you interested in what SEO can do for you company? Or to put it another way, when people search “custom homes in Your Location”, do you come up on the first page? Because you should, and the right SEO team can make that happen. The trick is finding the right SEO team.

SEO and SEM have been referred to as the “Wild, Wild West” of the internet. There are a lot of ads, a lot of promises, and not nearly as much solid information. It’s not always easy to find the right investment. A negative experience can quickly turn people off – or maybe you’re just wondering if what you’re paying for is really worth it.

Builder Designs utilizes a unique methodology to create real results. The newest BDTV episode discusses our SEO and SEM plans, and we’d like to tell you a little about them, so that you can feel confident in finding what you need. Marketing for custom home builders is a specialty field.  You deserve someone who really knows the market.

Search Engine Optimization properly refers to on-page optimization. Search Engine Marketing, on the other hand, is off-page optimization, like ad words. Our SEO team, headed by David Bean, works full-time on the optimization process. From the initial discovery phase to ongoing evaluation of services, our one-of-a-kind program uses only the builder vertical. And we also have an aggressive link-building strategy built into our website marketing plan. Your custom home builder listing here is just one example! These research-driven plans offer trusted solutions for your marketing needs. And our prices are adjusted to your needs too.

Our SEO team has wrangled clients first page results. When 99% of people are searching online for custom homes, earning a place on that first page is like owning every oil field in Texas. Okay, okay, no more Wild West metaphors – but you get our point. It’s an important investment, and one you want to place in trustworthy hands. Interested in what SEO can do for your company? Give Builder Designs a call, and we’ll be happy to discuss your options, or just offer up some more information.

As a custom homebuilder, you develop a close relationship with your clients. What kind of unique quality and emotion do you bring to them? Is it a superb professionalism, or perhaps a warm familiarity? It’s important to have a website that reflects your company’s personality. This is a crucial touchstone for any business, but especially for the custom homebuilder, who will have such a long-lasting relationship with buyers. Remember that the far majority of homebuyers find their home online!

Human-Computer interaction is where the elements of computer science, behavioral science, and design come together. Often called interface design, the right website can influence the user through emotional reaction – the same way two people would interact. When it’s done right, the personality of the product will override the computer’s inanimate coldness.

What does that mean for you, the custom homebuilder? Homeowners need to know your trustworthy. Your website needs to convey the same openness as if they were stepping into one of your show homes. You want to create a feeling of invitation, and offer information that’s readily accessible and easily organized. A poor website makes many people assume the product, and company, are equally inferior.

A designer will know all about the architecture of a site, and how to orchestrate it just perfectly for quick information and fantastic user experience. What you bring to the table is the knowledge of your audience! What makes people interested in your custom homes? Is it your luxury features, or green building, or years of experience? The right web designers can create the right influence and feel for your website.

A powerful website is full of personality, that will meet people face-to-face and win their trust. It should also be easy to change, when new communities are opened up or new floorplans drawn. And you need a way to immediately reach back to an interested homeowner and create those sales. Builder Designs offers that website and those designers. With our specialized graphic user interface, and years of experience in homebuilder website design, we can create the website that works best for your company and your potential homeowners. Interested? Contact us and we’d be happy to share the details.

As a custom home builder, you’re skilled at balancing market trends and popular requests with caring for the individual needs of your homeowner. We’ve seen an very important change in the homeowner market over the last few decades: women’s purchasing power. Women make a great deal of the homebuying decisions. And too note that single households are most likely to be headed by women.  Market research indicates that of our popular design trends, some are especially important and appreciated by women homeowners.

Drop Zones: These are areas near a garage or door that offer a place to store and organize important items. Coats, shoes, rain gear, mail, keyholders – all the things that become scatted throughout the home and make a disorganized mess. These drop zones are a great solution. As a custom home builder, what kind of drop zones can you create for your client? There are all sorts of aesthetic choices possible in finding just the right look for just the right spot!

Electronic Drop Zones: Between smart phones, tablets, ereaders, and music players, the modern family owns a plethora of electronic devices – and with them, a multitude of cords. As a custom home builder, consider offering a convenient, well-designed place that houses all of those cords for quick charging and storage. They hide the mess and protect against loss.

Convenient Laundry Rooms: The location of the laundry can save – or create – a lot of hassle. Having the laundry room built near the bedrooms is an increasingly popular trend. It’s a huge time saver, and far more convenient for washing and putting clothing away. What laundry room locations do you find popular for new custom homes?

Kitchen Storage: As a custom home builder, you know how important the right kitchen is to your client! Storage is often one of the top must-have for women buyers. This is especially true for kitchen cabinets. Pantries and cabinets that provide plenty of well-utilized storage space make the kitchen more usable and appealing. Important, too, is keeping them well-lit and easily accessible.

These are just a few popular trends in the custom homes market. Custom home builders create homes that are perfectly suited for the owner’s needs – and those of her family. What trends do you think are well worth watching?

R. M. Clemens Co. is a Dayton custom homebuilder with over 25 years of experience. Their Highview Terrace community offers a cozy home by Terrace Creek, in Bellbrook, Ohio.

Highview Terrace offers beautifully wooded estate lots. Many homes feature walk-outs and lovely views. These Bellbrook custom homes are zoned for the Sugarcreek Local school district.

Conveniently located near I-675, reach Highview Terrace by taking exist 7 (Wilmington Pk/Bellbrook) from I 675. Heading north on Wilmington Pk, turn right on Feedwire (1.1 mi) and then right on Little Sugarcreek (1.1 mi). Then just turn left on Terrace Creek.

There are four available homes in Highview Terrace, as well as three floorplans for a custom home in Bellbrook. The homes begin at $599k. For more information, contact Dayton custom homebuilder R. M. Clemens and they’ll be happy to assist you!

We’ve said before that 90% of homebuyers search online for homes and custom homebuilders. That’s a significant number! For the best sales and homeowner experience, you’ll spend a lot of time thinking about the design and features of your website. But also think about the way people first find you online. That might include SEO, social media marketing – whatever your company needs for name recognition and first page Google results. One feature to definitely consider is a mobile website.

It’s predicted that by 2013, more people will access information and search on their mobile devices than on their computers. Adding a mobile website will therefore have a major impact on your business. Regular websites are difficult to load and navigate on a mobile phone. Time-consuming sites send people off looking for companies that already have a mobile site. Mobile websites allow not just rapid website load time and easy-to-navigate pages, but also immediate access to phone numbers, directions, hours, and contact information. Consider how important this is to your potential custom homebuyer.

With the majority of people searching for homes on mobile websites, having a sharp-looking site with plentiful, organized information is crucial to staying ahead of your competitors. More visibility means more sales. Companies with mobile websites are going to sell more custom homes – that’s just the logic of numbers. Consider what your company can do to stay ahead of market trends and turn potential homebuyers into satisfied homeowners.

If you have any questions about mobile websites, or site design, SEO, and social marketing, give Builder Designs a call. We’d be happy answer any questions and discuss your options.

April is New Homes Month! Record-low interest rates and competitive prices make the custom home market an attractive potential for many families. But many people are also still keeping an eye on their budget. Custom homebuilders are creating energy efficient and space efficient homes, with multipurpose rooms, that offer beauty and comfort while keeping costs trim.

For example, spaces are being reworked. Custom homebuilders are designing common areas like kitchens for maximum family interaction, while buyers are less interested in little-used rooms such as formal dens. Rather than a large home office, custom homes can offer “pocket offices”, small spaces for home management. Other corners of space, like window seats, provide cozy alcoves for a private area while not taking up precious square feet.

If the property is smaller to begin with, custom homebuilders can offer increased amenities as compensation. Libraries are becoming more and more common, in addition to the long-popular media room. Cost efficiency for space may include a redesign of exteriors. Multiple roof lines take up interior volume, so rectangular designs are more cost effective. A new custom home can include architectural details that take advantage of that redesign. Consider what you could add to this modern look, such as mixed materials, and large windows for additional light. Offering keen selections as a custom homebuilder helps your homebuyer research the exact look they are dreaming of. Remember that 9 out of 10 people find a custom builder by website, so having those selections and floorplans posted for viewing is very beneficial.

Because of budget concerns and changing cultural diversity, many families are now living together in multiple generation homes. A custom homebuilder can offer “shadow” units, separate living units alongside the the main floorplan. Offering two master suites, especially one on a ground floor so as to be accessible for elderly occupants, may interest many of your homebuyers. A custom home is of course dedicated to the unique style and needs of the family buying it, so consider the different options you want to offer for all types of family blends. Custom homebuilders are especially talented at and suited for creating custom homes for complex or special arrangements.

These changes in home design are exciting to see. For more information about house design in the new year, check out this NAHB article. We at Custom Builders hope you have a great New Homes Month in April.

Chapel Creek is among the fastest-selling luxury home communities in the Dallas area. Belclaire Homes is building in the Frisco, Texas neighborhood with homes from the $700’s.

An exclusive neighborhood in west Frisco, Chapel Creek is located between Preston Road and the Dallas North Tollway. It has plenty of beautiful green space, with hike and bike trails, parks, and creeks throughout the community. A short drive from Dallas as well as the DFW International Airport, Chapel Creek is also conveniently close to Stonebriar Centre Mall, Baylor Medical Center, and Hall Office Park. It’s zoned for the Otis Spears Elementary, Hunt Middle, and Frisco High School.

To visit Chapel Creek, take the Dallas North Tollway to Lebanon Road. Go east and after a quarter mile, turn left onto Parkwood Blvd. Travel another quarter mile and turn right onto Chapel Creek Blvd. The model home in Newman Village has more information about the neighborhood.

Belclaire Homes are known for their outstanding quality and fine craftsmanship. Their custom homes have included personal wine cellars, custom libraries, and gourmet kitchens, amongst many other potential features. They also have two available homes in Chapel Creek. If you are looking for a custom luxury home in the Dallas area, Belclaire Homes would love to be your builder.

Arbor Heights is one of the most desirable Portland neighborhoods on the west side, and Arbor Custom Homes is building in the area. Arbor Heights is a single family neighborhood zoned for the Jacob Wismer Elementary, Stoller Middle, and Sunset High School.

With close proximity to the Claremont Golf Course, Bethany Village, and Tualatin Valley Parks and Recreation Center, Arbor Heights is a fantastic location. There’s a community pool and playground, with basketball courts and picnic tables, and they are just minutes away from downtown Portland.

The 3 and 4+ bedroom homes have the exceptional floor plans and quality finish details you can expect from Arbor Custom Homes. This neighborhood has classic and manor style homes with generous lots and nicely landscaped lots. Prices range from the $509’s to $639’s and the square feet from 2,787 to 3,938. Arbor Custom Homes offers five move-in ready homes in Arbor Heights as well as seven customizable floorplans.

To reach Arbor Heights at NW 133rd Avenue, take Hwy 26 to NW Bethany Boulevard/Cornell Road exit. Going north on NW Bethany Blvd, take a right on NW Laidlaw Road. The information center is on the right. Please call for a showing at (503) 610 3200. If you are looking for a custom home in Arbor Heights, Arbor Custom Homes would love to be your builder.

Which house are you interested in?

Photographs are an extremely important part of your website for the potential client. They grab attention from the first look, illustrating specials and favorite examples of your custom homes on the front page. The right picture could be the decisive factor between a homebuilder looking further around your site, and leaving for a competitor’s.

Photographs also provide information. They show off your skill at constructing exteriors and designing interiors. Pictures are an excellent way to show off a particular design feature or detail you’re especially proud of. They give clients an impression of the scope and quality of your homes. Clients are often looking for a particular design style, which they’ll want to know if you can provide.

You’ll also want to show off your models and move-in ready homes. Offering floorplans, model types, and exterior shots are a great way to fully inform the client. The more pictures the better, especially if they are available together in a gallery for ease of browsing.

Having photographs is undeniably important. What about their quality? There’s a lot to think about when photographing homes. The right angles, lighting, and background details can make the difference between a beautiful-looking home and a subpar one. The better the picture, the better the house appears, and the more likely a client is going to be to stop and look at it. The better the picture, the better of a chance you have to sell that house. But composing those shots can be difficult.

Consider hiring a professional photographer for your luxury custom homes. They can turn a snapshot of a house front to a beautiful composition of an airy, well-light room, or glowing mahogany study, or color-drenched facade. The right photograph can turn the right house and you into the right relationship between client and custom home.

Did you know that 80% of homebuyers search online for homes? A professional website is crucial to attracting potential customers and to get an edge over competing companies. The right website will have the design and photographs, ease of navigation and search, and the arrangement and quality of information that is right for your customers and your company.

The first thing to think about is data. Clients will want to look at foorplans and pictures before they go see the homes in person. The ability to print plans, or save houses across the site, are excellent additions that can make your site stand out as useful and inviting. Have a balance between photos and numbers. Some people are more visual and will want a tour – even consider video tours  – while others will want to crunch text. Quality photographs make a big difference to the potential client, in seeing the type and quality of custom homebuilding you can provide.

Clients are focused on looking for a home, not looking around a website. Make your site as easy to navigate as possible: organize by model, floorplan, community, and anything else you think the client could use. Likewise, an optimal site should be searchable by categories like neighborhood, price range, and number of rooms.

After you’ve interested a potential homebuyer, provide plenty of information about your company. Along with a clear contact page, interest list forms or additional information request forms will help start a conversation. You’ll also want an About page. Offer specific information about your company. Everyone can (and will) claim interest in customer service, design, and quality. But your special sales, commitment to energy efficiency, interior design plans, and testimonials are all yours.

All of this is important to a good website, but it is enough? The design and quality of a website reflects, in many people’s minds, on the quality of the business and their homebuilding design potential. Fairly or not, a graphically inferior site can turn people away. A website that’s difficult to use, poorly designed, or outdated can make that snap judgement of surfing online a cause to click away from you. Keep in mind, too, how quickly technology changes. A fantastic site for 2005 may not be sufficient or look fashionable in 2012. With so many people looking online for their custom homebuilding, a quality website is an important investment to make.

If you would like more information on homebuilding websites – including mobile sites, SEO, and email marketing – Builder Designs offers custom homebuilder website design.